1 John 4:8 – Household Words:

Old Testament Mercy. 2 Chronicles 33:12-13.

When I was a little boy, a girl down the street told me that God the Father was mean and angry, and that only Jesus the Son was merciful.[1] Have you heard this idea? It goes hand-in-hand with the oft-repeated trope that the Old Testament tells the story of a God of vengeance, and theContinue reading “Old Testament Mercy. 2 Chronicles 33:12-13.”

Is it Better to Arrest a Villain or Gun Him Down? Isaiah 28:21.

I once polled my friends on Facebook about their favorite films that end with the death of the villain. There were so many good answers: The wicked witch falls off a cliff in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Emperor Palpatine falls to his death in Return of the Jedi. While fighting Frodo for theContinue reading “Is it Better to Arrest a Villain or Gun Him Down? Isaiah 28:21.”

TWO QUESTIONS. Lamentations 3:31-33.

QUESTION #1. Can you name this villain? To what cruel person do the following verses refer? “He is a bear waiting in ambush, a lion in hiding. He forced me off my way and tore me to pieces. He left me desolate. He strung his bow and set me as the target for his arrows.Continue reading “TWO QUESTIONS. Lamentations 3:31-33.”

JESUS CHRIST: THE SAME YESTERDAY, TODAY, AND FOREVER. Lamentations 3:25-33; Hebrews 13:8; 1 John 4:8; Hebrews 1:9.

Homer Simpson is confused about God: “He’s always happy. No wait. He’s always mad.” Which is it? Have you heard people argue God is always mad in the Old Testament, but always loving in the New? God never changes. God judges sin. You reap what you sow—both the good and the bad. He judges sin,Continue reading “JESUS CHRIST: THE SAME YESTERDAY, TODAY, AND FOREVER. Lamentations 3:25-33; Hebrews 13:8; 1 John 4:8; Hebrews 1:9.”

DOES GOD HAVE AN ANGRY FACE?Jeremiah 33:9.

Children are so honest. I remember mine asking me directly, “Daddy, are you mad right now?” Kids look for clues and when the clues are not clear, they just ask. Children wonder about God in the same simple terms: ‘Does God have an angry face or a happy face?’ God is angry about sin, injustice,Continue reading “DOES GOD HAVE AN ANGRY FACE?Jeremiah 33:9.”

STARDUST. Jeremiah 22:15-16.

In 1987, on a bus from Beaumont to Houston, I met Stardust, an aging Hippie who talked to me about God. He was intoxicated by the false notion that nothing can be known for certain. He challenged me. “How do you KNOW that you know God?” I remembered one verse: “If you love Me, you’llContinue reading “STARDUST. Jeremiah 22:15-16.”

2020 Bingo.

What a year: a pandemic. Shortages of toilet paper, milk, meat—people began pretending it was all a crazy bingo game, and with each new revelation, another meme comes out: “Okay, who had ‘Murder Hornets’ for 2020?” And there have been many: a COIN shortage; warnings about hungry rats because there is no restaurant garbage; aContinue reading “2020 Bingo.”